Reversible cable tie

ABSTRACT

A reversible cable tie includes a belt, a guide portion and a constraint base. The belt includes a first end, a second end and a plurality of constraint structures. The guide portion and the constraint base are disposed on the first end and the second of the belt. The constraint base includes a hollow portion, an opening structure, a hook and a handle. The belt passes through the hollow portion. The opening structure is disposed on an external surface of the hollow portion. The hook is movably disposed inside the hollow portion and exposed via the opening structure. A first end of the hook is resiliently connected to a first wall of the opening structure. A second end of the hook buckles the constraint structure, so as to constrain a movement of the belt relative to the constraint base. The handle is disposed on the second end of the hook.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a cable tie, and more particularly, toa reversible cable tie.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The tie is often applied to bind the object, such as wires, rods and soon. The conventional tie includes a body, a guide portion and aconstraint base. The guide portion and the constraint base arerespectively disposed on two ends of the body. A plurality of firstengaging portions is disposed on a surface of the body, and a secondengaging portion is disposed inside the constraint base. When the guideportion guides the body through the constraint base, the second engagingportion can be engaged with the first engaging portion for constraintbetween the body and the constraint base to bind the object.

The conventional tie includes the second engaging portion with sawtoothform that is disposed inside the constraint base, and thesawtooth-shaped second engaging portion includes a plurality of engagingunits to simultaneously engage with the engaging units of the firstengaging portion. Therefore, disassembly procedure of the conventionaltie is inconvenient due to separation of the sawtooth structures and theengaging units. Besides, the second engaging portion of the conventionaltie is closed inside the constraint base. The second engaging portioncan not be separated from the first engaging portion if tightness of theconventional tie is insufficient, and the whole tie is useless to beabandoned. Thus, the conventional tie is environment-unfriendly style,and design of a reversible cable tie is an important issue in therelated industry.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a reversible cable tie for solving abovedrawbacks.

According to the claimed invention, a reversible cable tie includes abelt, a guide portion and a constraint base. The belt includes a firstend, a second end and a plurality of constraint structures. Theconstraint structures are disposed between the first end and the secondend. The guide portion is disposed on the first end of the belt. Theconstraint base is disposed on the second end of the belt. Theconstraint base includes a hollow portion, an opening structure, a hookand a handle. The belt passes through the hollow portion. The openingstructure is disposed on an external surface of the hollow portion. Thehook is movably disposed inside the hollow portion and exposed via theopening structure. A first end of the hook is resiliently connected to afirst wall of the opening structure, and a second end of the hookrelative to the first end buckling the corresponding constraintstructure so as to constrain a movement of the belt relative to theconstraint base. The handle is disposed on the second end of the hook. Agap is formed between the handle and a second wall of the openingstructure opposite to the first wall.

According to the claimed invention, the hook does not protrude from theexternal surface of the hollow portion.

According to the claimed invention, the second end of the hook buckleswith one of the plurality of constraint structures.

According to the claimed invention, the opening structure furtherincludes a third wall and a fourth wall different from the first walland the second wall. Intervals are formed between the third wall and alateral side of the hook, and the fourth wall and the other lateral sideof the hook.

According to the claimed invention, each constraint structure includes asupporting surface and a blocking surface. A wedged protrusion isdisposed on the second end of the hook. Two surfaces of the wedgedprotrusion respectively contact against the supporting surface and theblocking surface.

According to the claimed invention, a planer normal vector of a contactsurface of the wedged protrusion is substantially parallel to a movingdirection of the belt relative to the constraint base.

According to the claimed invention, a planer normal vector of theblocking surface of the constraint structure is substantially parallelto the planer normal vector of the contact surface of the wedgedprotrusion.

According to the claimed invention, resilient deformation of the secondend of the hook is substantially greater than a height of the blockingsurface.

The reversible cable tie of the present invention can dispose the hookon the external surface of the constraint base as the cantilever beamform. The free end of the hook can be pulled according to user's demandfor rapid separation of the wedged protrusion relative to the constraintstructure of the belt. Meanwhile, the belt can freely move inside theconstraint base. As tightness of the reversible cable tie is adjusted atsuitable magnitude, an external force applied to the free end of thehook can be removed, and the resilient recovering force of the hook candrive the wedged protrusion to engage with the constraint structure fortight and stable constraint. Comparing to the prior art, the reversiblecable tie of the present invention has advantages of easy structure,convenient operation and re-used application.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt becomeobvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment that isillustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 respectively are diagrams of a reversible cable tie indifferent operation modes according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 respectively are diagrams of a constraint base indifferent views according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 respectively are sectional views of the reversiblecable tie in different operation modes according to the embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 respectively arediagrams of a reversible cable tie 10 in different operation modesaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. The reversiblecable tie 10 includes a belt 12, a guide portion 14 and a constraintbase 16. The belt 12 can include a first end 18, a second end 20 and aplurality of constraint structures 22. The first end 18 and the secondend 20 are opposite ends of the belt 12. The plurality of constraintstructures 22 is disposed between the first end 18 and the second end20. In addition, the guide portion 14 is disposed on the first end 18,and the constraint base 16 is disposed on the second end 20. The guideportion 14 can be driven to pass through the constraint base 16, and theconstraint structure 22 of the belt 12 is engaged inside the constraintbase 16, so as to tie up an object firmly by the reversible cable tie.

Please refer to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 respectively arediagrams of the constraint base 16 in different views according to theembodiment of the present invention. The constraint base 16 includes ahollow portion 24, an opening structure 26, a hook 28 and a handle 30.Dimensions of the hollow portion 24 are substantially greater thandimensions of the belt 12, so the belt 12 can easily pass through theconstraint base 16. The opening structure 26 is disposed on an externalsurface 32 of the hollow portion 24. The hook 28 is movably disposedinside the hollow portion 24 and exposed via the opening structure 26,which means the hook 28 can be viewed from outside of the constraintbase 16, and the hook 28 can be manually touched for operation of thereversible cable tie 10.

Furthermore, the hook 28 includes a first end 34 and a second end 36.The first end 34 of the hook 28 is resiliently connected to a first wall261 of the opening structure 26, and the first end 34 can be a fix end.The second end 36 of the hook 28 can be a free end. The second end 36buckles the constraint structure 22 when the belt 12 inserts into theconstraint base 16, so as to constrain a movement of the belt 12relative to the constraint base 16. The handle 30 is disposed on thesecond end 36 of the hook 28. An amount of lengths of the handle 30 andthe hook 28 can be substantially smaller than a width W of the openingstructure 26, so that a gap 11 can be formed between the handle 30 and asecond wall 263 of the opening structure 26. The handle 30 can bemanually pulled through the gap 11 to press the hook 28 to beresiliently deformed.

The opening structure 26 further includes a third wall 265 and a fourthwall 267 that are different from the first wall 261 and the second wall263. The first wall 261, the second wall 263, the third wall 265 and thefourth wall 267 are four inner lateral walls of the opening structure26. The first end 34 of the hook 28 is connected to the inner lateralwall (the first wall 261) of the opening structure 26. The second end 36of the hook 28, whereon the handle 30 is disposed, does not contact thesecond wall 263. Two lateral sides of the hook 28 do not contact thethird wall 265 and the fourth wall 267, which means intervals 12 areformed between the lateral sides of the hook 28 and the inner lateralwalls of the opening structure 26. The gap I1 is greater than apredetermined value for operational convenience of the handle 30. Thehandle 30 can be pulled by a tool, such as user's finger or thescrewdriver. Dimensions of the intervals 12 have no limitation. Thewidth A of the hook 28 can be substantially smaller than the width B ofthe constraint structure 22 of the belt 12, so the hook 28 can beengaged inside a slot 221 formed on the constraint structure 22.Dimensions of the second end 36 of the hook 28 that can be the free endconforms to design's demand of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the hook 28 and the handle 30 do notprotrude from the external surface 32 of the hollow portion 24. The hook28 can be outwardly pulled easily via the opening structure 26, and theconstraint base 16 can surround the hook 28 to prevent the hook 28 fromdeformation by accident hit. Besides, the hook 28 of the presentinvention can further include a wedged protrusion 38 disposed on thesecond end 36. The hook 28 can buckle with one of the constraintstructures 22 by the wedged protrusion 38. Therefore, because theresilient deformation D of the second end 36 can be substantiallygreater than a height H of the constraint structure 22, the wedgedprotrusion 38 can be separated from the corresponding constraintstructure 22 when the hook 28 is pulled. If the other wedged structure(such like the form of the wedged protrusion 38) is disposed on the hook28 and located between the first end 34 and the second end 36, the saidwedged structure is still engaged with the constraint structure 22 eventhough the maximum resilient deformation D is generated, and the hook 28can not be separated from the constraint structure 22 completely.

The constraint structure 22 includes a supporting surface 40 and ablocking surface 42. Two surfaces (one of the surfaces is the contactsurface 381) of the wedged protrusion 38 can respectively contactagainst the supporting surface 40 and the blocking surface 42, so thatthe hook 28 can stably buckle the constraint structure 22. Dimension ofthe blocking surface 42 equals the height H. When the hook 28 bucklesthe constraint structure 22, a planer normal vector V1 of the blockingsurface 42, a planer normal vector V2 of the contact surface 381 of thewedged protrusion 38, and a moving direction of the belt 12 relative tothe constraint base 16 can be substantially parallel to each other. Thewedged protrusion 38 can wholly contact against the blocking surface 42,a combination of the wedged protrusion 38 and the constraint structure22 can effectively constrain the movement of the belt 12.

Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 respectively aresectional views of the reversible cable tie 10 in different operationmodes according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 5, the hook 28 is set at an initial state. The hook 28 does notprotrude from the external surface 32 of the hollow portion 24. Thewedged protrusion 38 of the hook 28 can buckle the correspondingconstraint structure 22, which means the contact surface 381 entirelycontacts against the corresponding blocking surface 42 to constrain themovement of the belt 12 relative to the constraint base 16. Fordisassembly of the hook 28, as shown in FIG. 6, the handle 30 can beoutwardly pulled to resiliently deform the hook 28. In the meantime theresilient deformation D of the second end 36 can be greater than theheight H (shown in FIG. 4) of the blocking surface 42. The wedgedprotrusion 38 can be separated from the corresponding constraintstructure 22, and the belt 12 can arbitrarily move relative to theconstraint base 16 for adjusting tightness of the reversible cable tie10.

In conclusion, the reversible cable tie of the present invention candispose the hook on the external surface of the constraint base as thecantilever beam form. The free end of the hook can be pulled accordingto user's demand for rapid separation of the wedged protrusion relativeto the constraint structure of the belt. Meanwhile, the belt can freelymove inside the constraint base. As tightness of the reversible cabletie is adjusted at suitable magnitude, an external force applied to thefree end of the hook can be removed, and the resilient recovering forceof the hook can drive the wedged protrusion to engage with theconstraint structure for tight and stable constraint. Comparing to theprior art, the reversible cable tie of the present invention hasadvantages of easy structure, convenient operation and re-usedapplication.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the device and method may be made whileretaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the abovedisclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and boundsof the appended claims.

1. A reversible cable tie comprising: a belt, the belt comprising afirst end, a second end and a plurality of constraint structures, theconstraint structures being disposed between the first end and thesecond end; a guide portion disposed on the first end of the belt; and aconstraint base disposed on the second end of the belt, the constraintbase comprising: a hollow portion, the belt passing through the hollowportion; an opening structure disposed on an external surface of thehollow portion; a hook movably disposed inside the hollow portion andexposed via the opening structure, a first end of the hook beingresiliently connected to a first wall of the opening structure, a secondend of the hook buckling one of the plurality of constraint structuresso as to constrain a movement of the belt relative to the constraintbase, wherein a wedged protrusion is disposed on the hook, the wedgedprotrusion comprises a contact surface and a support surface, thecontact surface is connected to the second end of the hook, the supportsurface is connected between the contact surface and the first end ofthe hook; and a handle disposed on the second end of the hook, a gapbeing formed between the handle and a second wall of the openingstructure opposite to the first wall.
 2. The reversible cable tie ofclaim 1, wherein the hook does not protrude from the external surface ofthe hollow portion when an external force is not applied to the hook. 3.(canceled)
 4. The reversible cable tie of claim 1, wherein the openingstructure further comprises a third wall and a fourth wall differentfrom the first wall and the second wall, intervals are formed betweenthe third wall and a lateral side of the hook, and the fourth wall andthe other lateral side of the hook.
 5. The reversible cable tie of claim1, wherein each constraint structure comprises a supporting surface anda blocking surface, the support surface and the contact surface of thewedged protrusion respectively contact against the supporting surfaceand the blocking surface when an external force is not applied to thehook.
 6. The reversible cable tie of claim 5, wherein a normal vector ofthe contact surface of the wedged protrusion is substantially parallelto a moving direction of the belt relative to the constraint base whenan external force is not applied to the hook.
 7. The reversible cabletie of claim 6, wherein a normal vector of the blocking surface of theconstraint structure is substantially parallel to the normal vector ofthe contact surface of the wedged protrusion.
 8. The reversible cabletie of claim 5, wherein resilient deformation of the second end of thehook is substantially greater than a height of the blocking surface.